History
History
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THE EARLY ERA (1984-1986)
(left to right: Ingo Schwichtenburg, Michael Weikath,
Markus Grosskopf, Kai Hansen)
Formed in 1984 in Hamburg, Germany, from the ashes of local bands "Second Hell"
and "Iron Fist," their original line-up comprised of Kai Hansen (guitar/vocals),
Michael Weikath (guitar), Markus Grosskopf (bass) and Ingo Schwichtenburg
(drums). After having two tracks (Oernst of Life and Metal Invaders) included
on the Death Metal compilation album released by Noise Records in 1984, the
label issued their self-titled debut mini-LP in 1985. This was soon followed by
the band's first full-length album, Walls Of Jericho and the EP, Judas.
The band gained a strong following with their unique blend of high speed power
metal. Soon after, Helloween decided to add a frontman, Michael Kiske, a
charismatic 18-year-old. Now, relieved of his vocal duties, Kai Hansen could
concentrate solely on playing the guitar.
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THE CLASSIC ERA (1987-1989)
(left to right: Markus Grosskopf, Kai Hansen, Ingo
Schwichtenburg, Michael Weikath, Michael Kiske)
Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part I, released in 1987, showed the band to be
taking a much more melodic approach and Kiske proved himself to be a worthy
addition. Helloween then toured Europe relentlessly, building a sizable
following in the process. Keeper Of The Seven Keys Part II was released
in 1988, together with a successful appearance at the Donington Monsters Of Rock
Festival that year. Everything seemed to be going well, but behind the scenes
it was far from the truth. The band had become increasingly unhappy with Noise
Records and started to negotiate with several major labels who had previously
shown an interest. In 1988, Kai Hansen left to form his own outfit, "Gamma Ray,"
which he debuted in 1990 with Ralf Scheepers on vocals. Helloween found a
more-than-adequate replacement in Roland Grapow who finished off the Keeper II
tour in place of Kai. As a stop-gap the band released Live In The U.K.
in Europe, Keepers Live in Japan, and I Want Out - Live in the
States. All of which were recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1989.
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THE EMI ERA (1990-1993)
(left to right: Ingo Schwichtenburg, Michael Weikath,
Michael Kiske, Markus Grosskopf, Roland Grapow)
A protracted legal battle with Noise ensured that it was not until 1990 that the
band was back in action. They finally signed to EMI Records and gained major
management in the form of the Smallwood/Taylor organization. The band's debut
for their new label, Pink Bubbles Go Ape, released in 1991, became a
target for critics' harsh reviews despite the fact that the album was quite
good. In 1993, Helloween released the highly controversial Chameleon
album and at this point, behind the scenes, all had gone downhill. Kiske was
dismissed and shortly thereafter, Ingo Schwichtenberg was also given his
marching orders due to personal health problems and a clash with Weikath, who
was now the main force behind the band. Helloween broke off with EMI and
decided to start fresh. Michi and Ingo's replacements were Andi Deris (vocals,
ex-Pink Cream 69) and Uli Kusch (drums, ex-Gamma Ray).
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THE PRE-MILLENIUM ERA (1994-2001)
(left to right: Uli Kusch, Markus Grosskopf, Andi
Deris, Roland Grapow, Michael Weikath)
Andi and Uli were in place in time for their Castle/Raw Power debut, Master
Of The Rings. This became Helloween's most successful album for several
years, topping the Japanese charts. This also marked Helloween's return to the
U.S. market. Fans in the States had not heard anything from the band since I
Want Out - Live was released in 1989. Master Of The Rings was
packaged with a bonus disc of all the b-sides from the recording session and was
released on Halloween in 1995. Unfortunately however, 1995 also marked the year
Ingo Schwichtenberg took his own life. 1996's The Time Of The Oath,
which was dedicated to Ingo, featured writing contributions from Weikath, Deris,
and Kusch. Helloween continued their success by releasing a two disc live album
High Live shortly thereafter. In late 1997, the band once again hit the
studio and released the studio masterpiece Better Than Raw. Helloween
continued on with the same lineup since 1994 with Metal Jukebox, a
compilation of covers from the 60's and 70's era of rock and roll. Shortly after
this release, Nuclear Blast signed the band onto their label. Their next studio
release, The Dark Ride was released in October of 2000. However, what
seemed to be the most stable lineup the band had ever seen, ended abruptly in
late 2001 when Roland Grapow and Uli Kusch were asked to leave the band. An
official statement read, "It was felt Roland and Uli were paying too much time
and attention to their solo projects." Former Metalium drummer Mark Cross
joined the band in September of 2001 to replace the departed Uli Kusch.
However, Roland's replacement still remained a mystery. In April of 2002, the
band released a greatest hits package aptly named Treasure Chest.
In certain limited edition packaging, a third disk with a handful of rare
b-sides was included. Rumors continued throughout 2002 as to who would
replace Roland Grapow as Helloween's second guitarist. Bernd Aufermann
(Angel Dust) and Sascha Gerstner (Freedom Call) seemed to be the two most likely
candidates. However, nothing was announced officially and rumors started
to fly that Henjo Richter would be leaving Gamma Ray and joining Helloween.
In the end, Henjo ended up declining Helloween's offer and Sascha Gerstner was
chosen to replace Roland Grapow in August of 2002, nearly a year after Roland
and Uli's departure.
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THE CURRENT ERA
(2003-present)
(left to right: Sascha Gerstner, Stefan Schwarzmann,
Michael Weikath, Andi Deris, Markus Grosskopf)
During the recording of Rabbit Don't Come Easy, it was revealed that Mark Cross had come down with mononucleosis so Mickey Dee of Motorhead filled in for the studio work. However, when the band could not secure insurance, it was decided that Mark Cross would be permanently replaced by Stefan Schwarzmann (Running Wild, Accept). Rabbit Don't Come Easy was released in May 2003 and a world tour followed in September which included the band's first U.S. tour since the late eighties. Helloween is expected to return to the studio for their next album once the tour finishes up.